Med students enrolled in China still worried

MUMBAI: Indian medical students enrolled in Chinese universities have not returned to their campuses due to travel restrictions for past 20 months and are worried about their belongings left in hostels amid reports that it was being dumped out to make room for fresh students.

“There are several videos doing the rounds among the student community of piles of luggage dumped outside hostel rooms. It’s been close to two years since we left and have no idea as to what is happening to our belongings,” said a thirdyear medical student, on the condition of anonymity.

Indian students of Chinese universities returned last year following the outbreak of the pandemic-- first detected among humans in China in December 2019-- leading to complete lockdown of Chinese cities and varsities in early 2020. Many left their belongings behind hoping to return soon, which has not materialised due to a continuous travel ban imposed by China on international students. Only those from South Korea and the United States of America have been allowed to return so far.

In June, the ministry of external affairs issued a notice asking Indian students studying in international universities, stuck in India due to the pandemic, to write to overseas Indian affairs office about difficulties in reaching their universities.

Thereafter, affected students urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and facilitate students’ return. But, there’s been no response yet.

Ishwari Chandran, who recently graduated from Zhejiang University at Hangzhou, China, completed her internship online. Fortunately, Chandran’s university continues to store the belongings of foreign students. “My university has let us keep all our things. They haven’t charged any dorm fee either. In fact, they refunded a part of it ,” she said.